During his short time in the Holy See, Pope Francis has had two clear messages for his faithful in the United States. Decrying those who "seek selfish profit," Francis in May pleaded with "those in public office to make every effort to give new impetus to employment." And just last month, the Bishop of Rome […]

While the federal government remains shuttered over Republican demands to defund the Affordable Care Act, the United States faces the growing prospect of its first-ever default. If Congress does not increase Uncle Sam's borrowing authority of $16.7 trillion by October 17, experts like former Bush Treasury official Tim Bitsberger warn, the resulting global economic cataclysm […]

Wednesday's Wall Street Journal provides the perfect encapsulation of the conservative crusade against the Affordable Care Act. On the opinion pages, columnist James Taranto mocked the story of new Obamacare enrollee Brendan Mahoney. But where news is actually reported, the WSJ's Arian Campo-Flores explained "Why Kentucky's Health Exchange Worked Better Than Many Others." But the […]

It is a tragic state of affairs when the antidote to the Party of Lincoln is Abraham Lincoln himself. But with House Speaker John Boehner and his band of "terrorists" and "hostage-takers" and "kamikazes" (as described by his fellow Republicans) prepared to trigger what Boehner himself warned "would be a financial disaster, not only for […]

For two decades, Republicans have opposed health care reform not because they thought it would fail the American people, but because they feared it would succeed. Passage of Bill Clinton's health care program, Bill Kristol warned in 1993, wouldn't just "do everything to help Democratic electoral prospects," but would "revive the reputation" of the Democrats […]

With House Republicans once again threatening to take the unprecedented step of blocking a debt ceiling increase and thereby triggering a U.S. default Speaker John Boehner admitted "would be a financial disaster, not only for our country but for the worldwide economy," frustrated Democrats are ramping up their own rhetoric. While former Vice President Al […]

Unless Congress raises the debt ceiling by October 17, Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew warned this week, the federal government will be unable to pay its bills. But while some Republicans like Rep. John Fleming (R-FL) responded, "I don't think we should run government based on economists' predictions," House Speaker John Boehner knows all too well […]

Like the morning sun rise in the east, it never fails. At every foreign policy fork in the road, conservatives faithfully ask, WWRD--What Would Reagan Do? When President Obama urged U.S. strikes against the Assad regime for its use of chemical weapons in Syria, right-wing politicians and pundits laughably looked to The Gipper for guidance. […]

For days, Washington has been focused like a laser beam on the GOP effort to "defund Obamacare." Prodded by the grandstanding Senator Ted Cruz (R-Self), 228 of 229 House Republicans voted to shut down the federal government if funding for the implementation of the Affordable Care Act is not stripped from the continuing resolution (CR) […]

For the past week, NBC News correspondent Chuck Todd endured withering criticism for suggesting it is not the media's job to expose Republican lies about the Affordable Care Act or, for that matter, anything else. But despite his assertion that the reporter's function is not to seek the objective truth but instead to serve as […]